Review: Apple's new iPhone 3G S and iPhone Software 3.0

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Comments

  • Reply 21 of 45
    alfiejralfiejr Posts: 1,524member
    for once, Prince/Dan is somewhat understated. been using the 3GS this weekend, and in real life, when you put all the many software and the noticeable hardware improvements and refinements together the overall impact is pretty sensational. and this is before we see the new apps that will take advantage of third party hardware control/feedback abilities ...



    the new Voice Control is a good example. like the whole iPhone, its UI is so well done and easy to use, it feels natural instead of robot-like typical voice dialing handsets. no one expects 100% accuracy yet (and no other product delivers it either).



    just a few notes to add:



    - for the 7 million (?) or so original 2G owners, mostly US i would think, the upgrade is a no-brainer, even though your AT&T data contract will increase by $15 per month. i bet this group accounts for the lion's share of the initial weekend's 1 million sales. this factor has been under-reported.



    - for just $5 a month, you can turn your old iPhone into a VOIP Skype wifi phone with its own public number. this is a great deal if you need just a basic phone.



    - one very nice thing about the App Store, you only buy an app once. you can then use the same app on every iPhone/touch you own, and copy it from an iPhone to any other user/computer that is authorized for the same iTunes account (do other brands' app stores work that way?).
  • Reply 22 of 45
    macnycmacnyc Posts: 342member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by chadisawesome View Post


    we at appleinsider think you are scum of the earth



    We do? says who?! Says you? You now speak for all of us?!





    Quote:
    Originally Posted by chadisawesome View Post


    go stand in line for your food stamps cause you are worthless.



    Wow, you're just as insulting if not more with that statement! So if you stand in line for food stamps you are worthless?!
  • Reply 23 of 45
    chwhalechwhale Posts: 10member
    Your chart shows that you could do A2DP in 2007. I'm sure that this isn't the case. Maybe you should split that out from the rest of bluetooth.
  • Reply 24 of 45
    solipsismsolipsism Posts: 25,726member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by chwhale View Post


    Your chart shows that you could do A2DP in 2007. I'm sure that this isn't the case. Maybe you should split that out from the rest of bluetooth.



    I am under the impression that you can now with v3.0 OS X.
  • Reply 25 of 45
    blufireblufire Posts: 8member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by chadisawesome View Post


    as for california, that sucks... but at least your state isn't in any economical trouble with all those taxes



    Actually, CA has been in financial trouble for some time. :P The sales tax hike was part of an effort to reduce the state's financial bleeding.

    Example article: http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Califo...-14225310.html



    If you were being sarcastic and I didn't pick up on it, then now I just look stupid. Thanks a lot.
  • Reply 26 of 45
    princeprince Posts: 89member
    "tax is tax.



    100 bucks plus 6 percent tax is 106bucks

    200 bucks plus 6 percent tax is 212 bucks."



    The article points out that in CA, you pay tax on the full price of the phone. It's not $106 vs $212, but rather 9.75% (? in SF) * $500 or $600, or ~ $548 vs $658. Minus $400 subsidy, you're paying $148 or $258. If you're paying $50 in taxes either way, plus/minus $10 bucks, why not pay another $100 and have a phone that works much better?



    I also don't understand your offense at categorizing check cashing/tax loan users as misguided. You don't have to be stupid to be poor, and you don't have to be poor to be stupid. There are plenty of people who make poor decisions without being poor, and there are people who manage what little they have very efficiently.



    It's simply a matter of false economy, thinking you're saving lots of money when you really aren't, and ending up with something of significantly less value. The original (hobbled) 4GB iPhone was the same thing: you save $100 bucks but get much much less. And look what people bought. The 16/32GB difference of the two 3G S models is much less of a value thing and more of a preference, as the 16GB version is probably plenty big enough for most users.
  • Reply 27 of 45
    irelandireland Posts: 17,798member
    3.0 is great and all, but I am noticing some serious WiFi bugs, and iTunes.ipa is buggy as hell. In fact iTunes is so buggy it's unusable.



  • Reply 28 of 45
    tofinotofino Posts: 697member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by techno View Post


    For the sake of those of us in Canada, please, let's not get into a pissing contest about who pays the most sales tax.



    yeah, because once you go there - europe has us beat for sure! they just don't get it rubbed in their faces like on this side of the pond, where the tax is added at the point of purchase....
  • Reply 29 of 45
    jeffdmjeffdm Posts: 12,951member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Tofino View Post


    yeah, because once you go there - europe has us beat for sure! they just don't get it rubbed in their faces like on this side of the pond, where the tax is added at the point of purchase....



    It can be a good thing to be made aware of the taxes as an itemized amount. Including the tax as just part of the price can easily serve to hide the tax so you don't know about it unless someone brings it up.
  • Reply 30 of 45
    solipsismsolipsism Posts: 25,726member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by nagromme View Post


    On the whole, I'm glad I updated my 3G to OS 3.0, but I'm seeing some serious slowdowns. Games run as fast as ever, but certain specific things seem to have problems to be patched:



    * GPS: Location Services gets a precise fix every 30 seconds or so, when it used to be very quick. No more smooth travel--your position sits unmoving for half a minute and then lurches ahead 2 blocks and freezes again. Which means it's useless while driving--and it used to be great.



    * Typing: noticeable lag (in Mail for instance) compared to the old OS, but not terrible.



    * iPod: now takes several seconds to respond to play/pause/skip (whether by touch or by docked controls) and launches slowly too. It used to pause and skip instantly.



    On the bright side, I've had no issues with 3rd-party apps, no WiFi problems, and I do like the many improvements. iPod no longer pops to the front when I click skip on my car controls--so the GPS (when it's working again) can stay visible. I'll probably love 3.1!



    I suggest backing up then restoring with a fresh build of v3.0. I haven't had any of those issues. In fact, typing became considerly better or me in v3.0.
  • Reply 31 of 45
    djsherlydjsherly Posts: 1,031member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by JeffDM View Post


    It can be a good thing to be made aware of the taxes as an itemized amount. Including the tax as just part of the price can easily serve to hide the tax so you don't know about it unless someone brings it up.



    Where I live, some things are subject to sales tax and others are not. It's not secret that you're taxed although prices are all-inclusive. The receipt will say "Total inc. GST" and a lot of places, particularly where you can buy taxed and non-taxed items together will sum the GST for you.



    Taxes are a fact of life - sometimes they seem a little unfair but I'm surprised people would get up in arms because somehow they didn't know they were being taxed?



    The review has convinced me I need one of these, but given the probable pricing structures that will be put in place here (Australia), it's likely I may give it a miss for another twelve months.
  • Reply 32 of 45
    adamj84adamj84 Posts: 5member
    Just got my phone today, and it's got a bit of dried glue around the home button... D-E-V-O-S-T-A-T-E-D!! ...wouldn't mind if it wasn't for the cost of it all - do I get a prize for the first reported issue?lol
  • Reply 33 of 45
    johnjjohnj Posts: 2member
    According to Apple - "All" DOES NOT mean "Everything" -- iPhone 0S 3.0 does not search the body of emails... Check out this page:



    http://support.apple.com/kb/TS2758?viewlocale=en_US



    A total bummer, but I assume the spotlight index file would grow exponentially (and therefore slower) if it had to catalog a ton of email message bodies...
  • Reply 34 of 45
    quinneyquinney Posts: 2,528member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by adamj84 View Post


    Just got my phone today, and it's got a bit of dried glue around the home button... D-E-V-O-S-T-A-T-E-D!! ...wouldn't mind if it wasn't for the cost of it all - do I get a prize for the first reported issue?lol



    To get a prize, you have to claim that EVERYONE has the problem and that it is proof that

    Apple doesn't care about quality control.
  • Reply 35 of 45
    adamj84adamj84 Posts: 5member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by quinney View Post


    To get a prize, you have to claim that EVERYONE has the problem and that it is proof that

    Apple doesn't care about quality control.



    Damn.... I'll be waiting 4eva!!ha. Ah well, worth a shot
  • Reply 35 of 45
    nagrommenagromme Posts: 2,834member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by solipsism View Post


    I suggest backing up then restoring with a fresh build of v3.0. I haven't had any of those issues. In fact, typing became considerly better or me in v3.0.



    That's good to hear. Some people posted on MR with similar GPS issues, and nobody chimed otherwise, so I'm glad to hear it's not universal. (And if it was, Apple would probably have known about it and fixed it. Still--it's a bug of some kind I'd guess.) Some reviews have mentioned a general slowdown, but they weren't specific enough. The GPS is the main issue for me anyway.



    I'll keep an eye on the matter for a while in case a fix comes from Apple--or at least, reports from others who have the problem seeing it go away with a restore. I hate to restore, since it's a potential failure point (the backup COULD be corrupt, you never know). And you never know if certain phones are different in some way, and a restore might not even help. But at least now your app icons keep their placement now during a restore I'll try it if nothing else turns up.
  • Reply 37 of 45
    solipsismsolipsism Posts: 25,726member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by nagromme View Post


    But at least now your app icons keep their placement now during a restore



    That is a VERY GOOD thing.
  • Reply 38 of 45
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by freelander51 View Post


    1./ WiFi is much slower to pick up in 3.0 then in 2.x. My Time Capusule is about 10 m away from where I am sitting and I sometimes have to deactivate and reactivate WiFi for the signla to pick up again.



    I initially had the same issue with the 3.0 update. Based on someone else's recommendation, restarting my TimeCapsule (and range extending AirportExpress) fixed that issue for good. Now it works as well as before.



    YMMV, but it's worth a shot.
  • Reply 39 of 45
    jkozjkoz Posts: 48member
    I have a friend that just bought a 3G. It crapped out after 3 days so he's going back to AT&T. After reading this article I kinda want to suggest him get the 3GS but I don't want to come off like an arrogant pr@ck, owning the 3GS myself, since I don't know him *that* well. Meh.
  • Reply 40 of 45
    gsteenogsteeno Posts: 56member
    OK, I get that the iPhone 3G S loses a star b/c of ATT's restrictions / service / etc. Apple and ATT are together for the time being, and they must play ball with each other.



    But on that note, where is all the innovation that those two were supposed to do together? I know visual voice was the first, but did I miss anything else? I recall Stan Sigman stating on stage at Macworld 2007 that there would be many more. (Maybe that's why he's retired.)



    I was really looking forward to output from the combined forces of computer and carrier. And I don't think free access to ATT hotspots counts. Just seems like an empty promise now.



    Would appreciate thoughts.



    </tangent rant>
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